this morning on "early today," president obama travels to new jersey to survey the jaw-dropping devastation inflicted by sandy. thousands remain stranded in hoboken. millions will remain without power for much of the week as the massive rebuilding and cleanup gets underway, and all of this when millions of americans are getting ready to vote. certainly not a time for tricks or treats this halloween wednesday. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning, everyone. i'm lynn berry. 46 people have now been killed in the disastrous wrath of hurricane sandy and many more remain trapped. the storm could wind up costing $50 billion in property damage and lost business.

just minutes ago we received brand new pictures from the jersey shore where fire is burning in a neighborhood just feet from the ocean. this may be the result of a rap toured gas line or downed fire line. the fire is one of the barrier islands. so far there's no sign anyone including fire crews can get near the flames. a mandatory evacuation order was given for that area before the storm hit. on staten island, some residents were trapped in their homes as a result of it. members of the aviation and scuba unit were able to lower a basket to the roof and rescue those five adults and one child. this is newly released video from the height of the storm monday night. surveillance video shows water filling a tunnel used by amtrak and commuter trains that go under new york's east river. the damage along the jersey

shore is something we have never seen before. most of the six people killed in that state died on long beach island and a neighboring barrier island. governor chris christie calls the devastation unthinkable. tuesday he tried to comfort one of the many victims. >> very difficult day. we'll rebuild. we're tough. >> we're tough. not far away in seaside heights an incredible site here. that's a roller coaster partially submerged in the ocean. we're going to have more on that in a moment. first, in new york city the subway system remains crippled after heavy flooding caused what officials say the worst damage in its 108-year history. and no one knows when it will be up and running again. let's go back to new jersey. there were countless rescues and

evacuations. and for some the realization that they were no match for mother nature. >> terrible. it was awful. it was the worst thing i ever saw. the waters came down like crazy. we were sorry we stayed. >> worst thing i ever saw. a lot of people are saying that. let's go to katherine craig from our new york station wnbc. she's live in lower manhattan. katherine, one of the big issues down there, the power is out, hundreds of thousands of people affected. >> exactly. >> reporter: it will take days to get power restored. what workers are doing out here, you see consolidated edison workers here trying to restore power. some other crews are also trying to pump out water from the basements of office buildings. something you really don't see in lower manhattan n financial area. you don't see the sump pumps

pumping, you only see them in residential neighborhoods, people doing that to their basements. they've been trying to pump out water from the basements but also the subway station. there's a subway station very close to us. there was water from the tracks all the way to the ceiling. the buses are rolling and they should be 100% back in service because the trains are not. the mayor of new york city say there's no timetable, no exact date exactly when the subway trains and the rail lines serving long island and westchester county, when they will be up and running. they hope in days. a lot of the tracks are damaged. both ended up in some of those train tracks. some of these office buildings, they are dark. there are so many buildings down here. you don't see this normally, they in the dark. we do expect for workers to return to their jobs, especially down here in lower marn hat tan. wall street is around the corner. the stock exchange is set to open in about 2 1/2 hours. mayor bloomberg will be here as

well. >> an eerie site. we don't see anything like this. we want to ask you about the possible gas explosion on the jersey shore. what do you know about it? >> reporter: it's scary. we've been hearing information from our newsroom. it's a natural gas explosion and it's on the barrier island in a community north of seaside. there are beautiful homes there and a lot of shops. it looks like it went from one place, either a residence to a business to other places. the problem is rescuers, first responders can't get to it because it's on a barrier island. the bridge to mantalocking is shut down. new jersey appears to have taken the brunt of sandy's wrath, especially along the towns near the shoreline where the storm actually made landfall. that's where we find the weather

channel's dave man lock live in toms river, new jersey. dave, how is it looking this morning? >> we've got a rescue operation going on right now. new jersey national guard, right? >> right. >> you guys are gng to go over and check out the beach over there to see if anybody needs help. >> we haven't received any action orders to do that. >> but you're geared up to do that. thank you so much. thanks for joining us. we've got new jersey national guard. we've got the new jersey state troopers. we've got toms river fire department coming right here. so we've got a major rescue operation. you saw what happened on the jersey shore. you saw how many homes were under water and how many people were stuck there that did not heed that warning. now, they are stuck over there, but i just want to end by showing you this one thing. talk about how big the debris is. this is the biggest piece of

debris i've seen. a 30-foot boat that's not moored in the docks. it's here in the middle of the highway, lynn. >> that's an unbelievable sight. that puts it into perspective. dave, thank you so much, right there in toms river, new jersey. nbc meteorologist bill karins has your weather channel forecast. bill, that's just surreal to see. all the images that we're seeing. >> you saw the images and everyone has their own personal story. you put it together and try to put a price tag on this. all of a sudden we're talking about one of our country's most expensive natural disasters. these are just estimates. they're saying $50 billion. just to put this into perspective. katrina, with all the fatalities and the horrible scene with that, that was the worst ever at $106 billion. that was crazy. these numbers are adjusted for inflation. sandy up there with hurricane andrew. that was a category 5.

sandy was a category 1 and did $50 billion estimated in damage. the other story is 7 million people without power. windchills in the 40s. you have people in their houses sleeping in the same bed with covers and blankets on top of them trying to keep warm. the storm sits over buffalo and will slowly exit. not soon enough. that's a look it's mostly a rain event. but umbrellas needed. take a look at the radar and the soggy trick-or-treat forecast for the northwest a little later in the show. >> thanks so much. also coming up, the presidential election is less than 140 hours away. sandy could end up being the major factor in choosing our next president. plus years of medical research at one of the nation's top colleges destroyed by sandy.

much more ahead this morning on "early today."

welcome back. election day is now less than 140 hours away, but right now for millions of sandy's victims, the next two days will hold a lot of uncertainty. a new poll shows the president up by five points in ohio. that's unchanged from two weeks ago. in florida, just a single point separates the two wand dats. the president had a nine-point lead in september. it's a similar story in virginia where mitt romney closed the president's lead to within two points. nbc's tracie potts has the latest from washington. tracie, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. less than a week away from this campaign and governor romney is now cautiously venturing back onto the campaign trail. president obama still really tied up with dealing with the storm. so the campaign is back on sort of. we've got paul ryan who is back out in wisconsin today. vice president biden in florida,

and so is governor romney. he's got three stops in florida today. he was in ohio yesterday collecting supplies and thanking supporters for helping those storm victims and also avoiding questions about fema, the federal emergency management agency and their response to the storm. meantime, president obama probably won't be back on the campaign trail until tomorrow in colorado at the earliest. today, as you mentioned, he's visiting new jersey and getting a pat on the pack from new jersey governor chris christie who says the president has done an outstanding job so far with the recovery effort after the storm. meantime, the president will not be visiting new york city. mayor bloomberg says they have a lot to do in terms of trying to handle a presidential visit at this time. >> thanks so much. let's get back to sandy, two of the three major airports serving the new york area will start to reopen late they are morning. the super storm created a worldwide ripple effect for

travelers. many of whom are still stranded overseas. let's check in with michelle kosinski who is handling those events from london. >> of course, most obviously in travel, dozens of flights are canceled today out of heathrow. yesterday there were nearly 90 flights not moving. experts are estimating some 50,000 passengers just over the last couple days have been stranded, and that's just between new york and london. surprising number, but it's not that surprising when you consider that about 7,000 people every day fly just between jfk and heathrow. the problem now is getting back to the u.s. many americans have found they haven't been able to get a flight until this weekend. something that becomes very expensive when you consider that some u.s.-based airlines are not helping people out with hotel payments. we talked to a family from philadelphia today who was able

to tentatively book a flight just now on friday back home. and they were able to book on ba. they've been provided with with breakfast, lunch, dinner and hotel accommodations. that's helping them out. what we haven't been seeing is lines at the airport because all airlines for the most part have been very good at notifying passengers and telling them not to show up at the airport until further notice. >> michelle kosinski in london. thanks. it is back to business for wall street today after sandy sidelined the heartbeat of america's financial world. plus george lucas makes a blockbuster deal that will bring three new star wars movies to the silver screen. in weather, a powerful storm is coming into the pacific northwest. you the worst weather in the country on this halloween. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "erly today."

some stories making news this morning, years of important medical research was lost when the nyu medical center in new york was evacuated during hurricane sandy because of a power failure. thousands of research mice also perished. a man whose twitter handle is @comfortablysmug has apologized for fabricated tweets during sandy including one saying the new york stock exchange was underwater. he resigned from the campaign of a house candidate in new york. police say they caught the man accused of stealing $1.6

million worth of casino chips from the venetian resort in las vegas october 10. he was arrested in his mother's california home and police recovered $396,000 in chips. after being shut down for two days, u.s. mashlgs will reopen. unlikely to be business as usual. trading will resume on and off the floor of the new york stock exchange and the nasdaq this morning. the last time weather interrupted u.s. markets this this degree, 1888. incredibly the fcc says the unprecedented super storm knocked out 25% of wireless cell towers and a quarter of cable services in ten states. governor bob mcdonald is giving the victims until november 9th to renew expiring driver's licenses. an out of this world deal is

sure to spark action. disney is buying lucas films from star wars maker george lucas for just over $4 billion. and, finally, movie fans who had power but were stranded at home by sandy gave netflix a boost by about 20% nationwide. in hard hit northeast streaming spiked 100%. well, the incredible images we're only just beginning to see from sandy's powerful winds and surging waters remind us that it's people's resilience that will once again get us through the devastation. an incredible report coming up next. you're watching "early today."

we have a storm system locked in, a large rain shield that goes a good 100, 200 miles off the coast. from seattle to portland, all areas pretty much to the west side of the cascades, you have a chance of rain and even towards medford and all the way back to eugene and portland. watching on-and-off rain throughout the day. the worst weather around the country today, changes in to west coast, but nothing devastating. it wasn't until daylight that the full impact of sandy was realized. nbc's ron allen spoke with some residents of bayhead, new

jersey, who decided not to evacuate. >> reporter: long-time new jersey shore residents kim duncan and shelly kirk were determined to stick this storm out together. >> to me it's more about my house. it's my home. this is my roof over my head. i don't want to leave it. >> reporter: hours before sandy made landfall, shelly, kim, and kim's husband john took a walk to the shoreline. >> i don't think i've ever seen it this bad. >> look at the size of the waves. >> reporter: 150 feet of beach was now underwater. >> if this is what this looks like now, this won't be here tomorrow. >> no. no. when we come back even at midnight tonight this will all be gone. >> no way. >> reporter: kim and shelly hunkered down, worried about what was going on outside and wondering if they had made a bad decision. >> you know what, i'm going to -- i swear to god, i'm going to cry in a second. you know what just hit me? this town is going to be destroyed.

>> reporter: when dawn finally came, the extent of the disaster was shocking. up and down the coast dunes were toppled and seawalls breached. houses were submerged. tourist meccas like seaside heights were destroyed. kim and shelly were the lucky ones. >> we're good. are you guys okay? >> reporter: with just four inches of water inside their houses, but many of their neighbors had it rougher. >> nobody's ever seen this. it's never done this. >> that was nbc's ron allen reporting. as we go go to break, here are powerful i'm images of this storm's wrath brought to us by our new york station, wnbc.

major storms always bring out the adrenaline junkies. sandy was no different. a few kayakers in maryland decided to live life on the edge. seven to 11 inch offense rain caused the creek to swell to over 11 feet. this creek crested 3 1/2 feet above its flood stage but has since come down thankfully. sandy also created a xhond bond between new yorkers and a group of texas teens. 13 high school students stuck in the big apple with nowhere to go. the group and their teachers sent videos home to worried parents to assure them all was well while sandy swirled around them. finally, one michigan doctor plans to bring a little more fright and fun to his job today. dr. waldo frankenstein has been

practicing medicine for close to 60 years. he's never been accused of being a mad scientist. he does his best to scare up good time for his patients. i bet this is his day. we've almost forgotten that today was halloween, there's just such devastation going on around us. >> usually we do these stories, a lot of bad hurricanes in the last 10 or 20 years. this is the first time it's ever happened where we are. strange to be just reporting it. time for an early look of stories we'll follow here on nbc. this afternoon president obama will travel to atlantic city to survey sandy's decimation of the new jersey coastline. joe biden attends two grassroots event in florida. republican nominee mitt romney will also spend the day in the sunshine state rallying florida supporters alongside marco rubio and jeb bush. paul ryan will be in his home state of wisconsin.

it will be a parade of giants this afternoon in san francisco. baseball's winningest team swept the detroit tigers in four games to bring home their second world series title in three years. all day long you can stay on top of the latest developments on those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally, coming up later on the "today" show, a look at one of sandy's displays of power. the bent and broken dangling crane in new york city. babies who made a dramatic entrance into this world. two families will share their emotional stories. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching early today, just the first stop of your day today on this nbc station. have a good one.